I’m a staff writer covering all things Wall Street and Investing. I have a love hate relationship with the world of finance. I am fascinated by the industry’s power and influence around the globe, and the ingenuity of the people it employs. Not so much a fan of the lack of accountability when the system fails—which it often does: I'm always on the hunt for people and companies to profile.

3 Reasons I Still Have A BlackBerry And Won't Switch

Good news. I’ve upgraded to a new phone since I last wrote about this, and yes, it’s still a BlackBerry.

Gone is my broken keyboard though. TheOneThatForcedMeToTextLikeThis. I’m onto better things like the BlackBerry Bold with full physical keyboard and a touchscreen. Laugh all you want, iPhone and Android users, I’ve still got the better keyboard.

My physical keyboard is still a dealbreaker,

Just over a year ago I published three reasons I wouldn’t switch my BlackBerry for an iPhone: the red indicator light, the physical keyboard and BBM.

The first two reasons still remain true for me today. As for BBM, my contact list was dwindling even back in December 2011 when I first wrote about my BlackBerry loyalty. Now it’s down to one regular contact. Plus, I can chat with any of my Android and iPhone friends via WhatsApp so BBM has become less important.

But that red indicator light? I love it as much as I ever have. I noted in my last post that iPhones don’t have a tiny little light that flashes when there’s a new message or alert. That’s still the case. And as one recent Blackberry to iPhone convert put it, “That’s what I miss most about my BlackBerry. Now I have to turn my phone on to check if I have new messages.”

(I should note I’ve seen indicator lights on Androids including the Samsung Galaxy which has an app that allows you to pick different color indicator lights for different types of alerts. One color for email and another for text, for example. Pretty cool.)

My physical keyboard is still a dealbreaker. I won’t give up on it and neither have other loyal BlackBerry fans. I’ve still never lost a typing race to my iPhone or Android friends, and typo free might I add. I have not met a single person who says they prefer touchscreen keyboards over the physical one I have.

So when BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion, launched its new phones last month it was no surprise that those two key features that keep me in love with my BlackBerry, the indicator light and full keyboard, were still in play.

The author argues that without desirable apps like Instagram BlackBerry becomes a lot less desirable. That may be true among potential BlackBerry converts but I doubt it will be a dealbreaker for existing BlackBerry users.

In essence, my third reason for not switching to a smarter Smartphone (just yet) is that I’m not convinced I need one. If you’re still using a Blackberry by choice then you probably don’t care very much about Instagram or any other trendy app because you don’t care for your phone to act like a toy.

You like your phone for its…well, communication features. BlackBerry’s e-mail system, keyboard and indicator light all make the communication process a more efficient one.

A number of comments on the Instagram blogpost show that BlackBerry users don’t care all that much for apps like Instagram.

“I could care less. instagram I never used it, as far as I know you post pictures and share them online. I have better things to do then share my pics with strangers, I use my phone to get stuff done not play games,watch movies,or use any other stupid app,” comments mario castillo.

“Pity .. but I’m still sticking with my Z10. Who cares what apps will choose not to support the QNX platform? Apps have never been a big thing for me. Could be for most of the world .. but not me,” says another.

And let me be clear, I’m not resisting change for the sake of resisting change. I have considered switching to an Android as some have both the physical keyboard and indicator light I’m looking for. However, I haven’t found one that fits me. Literally. They are huge compared to my BlackBerry Bold.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

Halah, that is not true: The Notifications Center is instantly available at a flick of a finger in any app. Notifications are persistent, i.e. they do not disappear until you specifically dismiss them.

i disagree. it is so easy to miss notification on the iPhone. You have to constantly engage the phone to check messages. If you miss the popup notification you wouldn’t know anything happen until you unlocked the phone and engaged it.

With a Blackberry, you can leave your phone on silent and see what notification you are getting from across the room because of the LED light. Its even better when you customize the LED color so you know exactly what the notification is and who it’s from.

This might apply to some people, but most folks carry the phone on their persons these days. Again, I think this is a weak argument for staying with BB. I hardly think a one button push to check the front screen of an iPhone is much of an inconvenience.

I never have to unlock the phone to check any my messages. I only have to hit the top button and it brings up every message from all sources that I have tagged from app’s of my choosing (gmail, text, yahoo, words with friends, etc). If you are responding to any of your messages on your blackberry you’ll be opening the appropriate screen anyway, so there’s no value added by your argument in my humble opinion. I’ve used all 3 types of devices and Apple seems to be far and away the best option, with Android a close second, and BB a distant third (and I can imagine that changing with a decent Windows phone if I tried one).